Vaccination, Return to Work, and Masking FAQ
Q1: Can we bring all employees back to the church office, but make the unvaccinated keep their masks on? In most states, yes.* Currently the CDC suggests that fully vaccinated people do not need to wear masks in most places (some workplaces will be an exception, such as healthcare settings), but that non-fully vaccinated people…
4 Unavoidable Legal Issues For Your Church
4 Unavoidable Legal Issues For Your Church As a church leader, there are certain things we don’t like to think about, but in the end, we cannot avoid them. 1) UNDERSTANDING YOUR CHURCH COULD GET SUED . . . AT ANY TIME It is a bad day when a summons is served. Yet in reality,…
FAQs About Form I-9
We receive a lot of questions about the I-9—the form used to verify the identity and employment authorization of all individuals hired for employment in the United States. Here are some of the most common: 1: How Should I-9s Be Stored? Separately. We recommend that you keep all I-9s in either a separate master file or…
IRS Processing Delays
The Internal Revenue Service closed the most recent filing season with more than 35 million in unprocessed tax returns, as the agency’s backlog grew markedly amid a crush of challenges related to the pandemic and economic relief efforts. The National Taxpayer Advocate indicated about 17 million paper tax returns are still waiting to be processed and approximately…
Is your Gift Taxable?
If you’ve given money or property to someone as a gift, you may owe federal gift tax, but in many cases, you will not. For example, there is usually no tax if you make a gift to your spouse or a charity. If you make a gift to someone else, the gift tax usually does…
Advance Child Tax Credit Payment Online Tools
The IRS just launched new online tools designed to help families manage and monitor the advance monthly child tax credit (CTC) payments. The first payment will be made on July 15, 2021. The tools include: Child Tax Credit Eligibility Assistant: allows families to answer a series of questions to quickly determine whether they qualify for…
Do you need a cell phone policy?
According to a variety of surveys, close to 80 percent of the churches said that employees couldn’t do their job efficiently without cell phones. Despite being an integral part of daily work, many churches still do not have an effective cell phone reimbursement policy in place. With constant updates and advancements in cell phone technology,…
Can you prohibit personal phone?
Q: Employees are spending a lot of time on their phones (scrolling social media, browsing the internet, listening to music or podcasts). Can we prohibit personal phone use during work hours? A: Yes, you can limit or prohibit the use of personal devices during work hours. Employees can be expected to give their undivided attention…
Are Clergy Subject to Self-employment tax
Clergy are dual-status employees and are not eligible to have FICA taxes withheld from their church compensation. In lieu of FICA taxes, clergy are subject to self-employment tax (SECA) which is calculated and paid on their tax return. Reimbursements from an employer of SECA are taxable as wages. Note, however, that even though clergy pay SECA…
Should I Opt-Out of the Advance Child Tax Credit
Child Tax Advance Credit Update Recently many news outlets have been reporting a new “stimulus payment” coming in July. This has caused some confusion. There are no current plans for a fourth economic impact payment (EIP), but instead, the press is calling the upcoming advance child tax credit (CTC) payments a “stimulus payment.” Earlier this…
